The Sutra of Queen Śrīmālā of the Lion’s Roar
15,590 words
The Sutra of Queen Śrīmālā of the Lion’s Roar (Śrīmālādevī Siṃhanāda Sūtra) is a Mahayana text no longer extant in Sanskrit but preserved in both the Chinese and Tibetan Buddhist canons. It teaches the doctrines of Tathāgatagarbha and the One Vehicle (Skt. ekayāna), through the words of the Indian queen Śrīmālā....
Chapter XIV - The True Sons [and Daughters] of the Tathāgata
[The Buddha said,] “If my disciples comply with their [early stages of] faith and [subsequent] more fervent faith, then they will attain the ultimate after completing their subsequent wisdom of the Dharma that is based upon the illumination of faith. ‘The subsequent wisdom of the Dharma’ is the insight and fundamental investigation into the realms of sensation and consciousness; insight into karmic retribution; insight into the eye of the arhat; insight into the happiness of the autonomy of mind and into the happiness of meditation; and insight into the supernatural powers of the arhats, pratyekabuddhas, and powerful bodhisattvas. When these five kinds of insight have been completed, even after my final nirvana, in future generations, my disciples who have [the early stages of] faith, the [subsequent] more fervent faith, and the subsequent wisdom of the Dharma that is based upon the illumination of faith will attain the ultimate even though their inherently pure minds become contaminated by defilements. The ‘ultimate’ is the cause for entering the path of the Mahayana. Faith in the Tathāgata has great benefits. Do not slander my [Dharma’s] profound meaning.”
Then Queen Śrīmālā said to the Buddha, “There are still remaining great benefits which I will explain, with the Buddha’s permission.”
The Buddha said, “Again, please explain.”
Queen Śrīmālā said to the Buddha, “The three kinds of good sons and daughters who, within the most profound meaning [of the Dharma], have separated themselves from injury [to the Dharma], produce great merits, entering the path of the Mahayana. What are the three [kinds of good sons and daughters]? They are those good sons and daughters who 1) develop their own wisdom of the most profound Dharma, 2) develop the subsequent wisdom of the Dharma [that is based upon the illumination of faith], and 3) revere the Lord though they do not completely understand the most profound Dharma.
“What is known only by the buddhas is not our realm. These [abovementioned] are called the good sons and daughters who revere the Tathā-gata. Only these are the good sons and daughters.”